Heidi Wicks

The School of Pharmacy is presenting its 2014-15 Annual Report a little differently this year.

“Here in the School of Pharmacy, we strive to train pharmacists that will have a positive impact on our citizens and the health-care system,” narrates Dean Carlo Marra in the video. “We want to show the impact of our profession. So, for our annual report this year, we are, literally, illustrating.”

The video features clips of visual artist Elayne Greeley creating a colourful graphic illustration of a presentation Dr. Marra gave at the Pharmacists Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) Annual Conference this past September.

“We wanted to communicate the highlights of our year in a way that’s innovative, visual and alive, and that brings the faces behind the work we do to the forefront,” Dr. Marra said about the creation of the annual report. 

The video is under 10 minutes minutes long and centres on the School’s 2014-17 Strategic Plan, which highlights research, teaching and learning, and pharmacy practice innovation as strategic directions.

“Our research funding has increased from approximately $200,000 to $500,000 since 2012-13, so we wanted to celebrate some of the successful projects from the past fiscal year,” Dr. Marra said. 

Projects mentioned in the report include two funded by Memorial’s Teaching and Learning Framework fund. The funding has allowed for work to be done to improve the school’s infrastructure and student spaces and for ongoing effort towards the building of an entry-to-practice doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program, slated to begin in the fall of 2017.

Also highlighted in the video is the school’s continuing commitment to the health-care practice community, which includes patients and other health-care professionals.

“We’ll be launching our Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic this winter, which is a pharmacist-delivered, referral-based, non-dispensing clinic that will offer one-on-one medication assessments with pharmacists to address patients’ complex drug related needs,” Dr. Marra says in a voiceover. “The clinic will also be a site for experiential teaching and learning, as well as a research incubation centre to evaluate the enhanced role of pharmacists in health care.”

Dr. Marra also outlines in the video that, without partnerships with other areas of the university, the school’s work would not be as successful.

He says that the school received funding from the Teaching and Learning Framework fund and the Office of Public Engagement, and guidance from the Strategic Research Intensity Plan. Distance Education, Learning and Teaching Support will assist with the development of the PharmD bridging program, and hopeful partnerships with Memorial’s cold ocean facilities is on the horizon as the school begins its recruitment of a Research Chair in Marine Drug Discovery.

Dr. Marra says the chair will examine natural sources of pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals in the cold-water environment that exists off Newfoundland and Labrador’s coast.

“We have the ability here at Memorial to make major discoveries that will have great impacts on our province’s health.”

The School of Pharmacy’s 2014-15 Annual Report is online at www.mun.ca/pharmacy and www.facebook.com/schoolofpharmacy.